Gabriel Gonzaga's KO of Mirko Cro Cop is a shining example of how the best laid plans often work out in a manner you hadn't intended. Cro Cop was being built up for an August 2007 heavyweight title fight with champion Randy Couture, but Gonzaga threw a wrench into those plans with a perfect high kick and ended up getting the title shot in a far less appealing fight to mainstream fans than Cro Cop/Couture would have been.
It's apparent that they've learned this lesson, however, and the Brock Lesnar/Randy Couture fight at UFC 91 is a perfect example. While Brock Lesnar definitely doesn't deserve a title shot (at least by traditional sporting rules) at this point in his career, it would be very risky to give Lesnar more fights to pad his record.
There's a good chance that Lesnar would run through Cheick Kongo, Jake O'Brien or any other lower-tier heavyweight they'd match him up against, but there's also a good chance one of them can get a lucky punch or catch Lesnar in a submission. He's only 1-1 in the UFC, but he's already one of the top two PPV draws in the company.
The name of the game is making a profit by putting together the biggest fights you have available, and Lesnar vs. Couture is the absolute biggest fight the company can realistically make in 2008.
Joe Silva and Dana White decided not to worry about getting Lesnar more wins under his belt and simply booked the fight. That decision will surely continue to anger hardcore fans, but the UFC's massive mainstream audience is already salivating over the Lesnar/Couture fight, and it's going to draw the largest PPV audience in UFC history.
Just like Lesnar, Faber doesn't need to get a win in the UFC to build up his name; he's already popular, and you always have the ability to push him to the mainstream on a bigger level via the All Access shows and The Ultimate Fighter.
UFC fans are generally aware of WEC, because Zuffa has pushed the bigger WEC cards (Faber/Pulver) on UFC programming since buying the company. Zuffa does a fantastic job in producing the All Access specials. They convert a very high percentage of the audience that watches those All Access specials into pay per view buyers, and that's the number one metric to observe when trying to determine if the hype shows are a success. A hype show on Urijah Faber would be no different.
In the end, the fans would be treated to a breathtaking fight between two of the best on the planet. Both fighters are well rounded and skilled in every aspect of the game. It would be fast, it would be furious, and it would also be one of the best fights of all time.
CONCLUSION
I've highlighted five big fights that Zuffa has the ability to make. What are your biggest potential fights? Leave your thoughts and comments for discussion.
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